Statement from the School Board President, Mr. Matthew Krueger:
Unfortunately, NBC 5 chose to target our district in an effort to sensationalize a story they wanted to do. It was also unfortunate that the story they chose to run does not accurately portray full information as it has no background context.
In an effort to set the record straight with our community of parents, students, and staff here is some information that was NOT explained by the media.
There are many lists of controversial books across the internet. These lists were not compiled by us, nor did we remove all the books on these lists. They were emailed and asked IF we carry them so we can potentially pull them for review and remove anything that has content that violates federal or state law and/or school policies.
Our district cares very much about the materials given to our students and their safety. We will not distribute pornography to minors as this may violate policy as well as law. There are several books at this time that are being reviewed due to the potential of having inflammatory sexually explicit pornographic content. This is why a multi-person review committee made up of the librarian, an administrator, and a representative from each of the core subjects, Social Sciences, English, Math, and Science was created. The Superintendent is invited to attend all meetings.
There is also an oversight committee of BOE members. The review committee was formed to review content of books that are questionable so it is not one person making the call for what is considered educational, appropriate, and safe for our students.
- School Board President, Mr. Matthew Krueger